[Weekly Features]

Throwdown No.87 – Will Marmont bounce back?

3 years ago

What’s this “Throwdown”? It’s a digital home for rumour, fact and innuendo, delivered on a weekly basis. Covering a broad spectrum of the off-road world’s news, the Throwdown will touch on everything from racing to trailriding; from industry tidbits to issues facing the sport. It’s about delivering you timely information all in one place so you don’t have to scour the internet looking for it.

After his poor results at Round 3 of the MX Nationals at Wonthaggi, Vic, you've got to be wondering whether reigning champion Jay Marmont's lack of speed and consistency is because he hasn't gelled with his new Kawasaki. Or maybe that nasty take-out at Conondale (Rd1) and the knee injury he was nursing into the opener has hindered the Monster Energy Kawasaki rider. In any case, Marmont has a lot of work to do if he wants to close his 42-point gap with former teammate, Josh Coppins, and defend his title. We talked with Marmont's Team Manager, Troy Carroll, this morning to see where his head's at, "We're mixing up Jay's schedule for the next few weeks and heading to Perth," said Carroll. "We want to get him away from all the stresses and put the fun back into his racing. With the pressure of changing teams, he feels like he's in a hole right now so this trip should be good for him. He's nearly back to 100% heath and professional Australian boxer, Danny Green, is actually going to be helping train Jay for the next few weeks."---

Anderson took the win at Wonthaggi. Pic: iKapture Images

Carlton Dry Honda Thor Racing's Brad Anderson has taken his first MX1 victory of the season at Wonthaggi. The two-time British Champion took a 1-2-3 win, despite crashing with CDR Yamaha's Lawson Bopping in Moto 3. It's the first time Anderson has been on the podium in Australia since dominating back in 2010 during Raymond Terrace, when he rode a near-stock Brisbane Motorcycles Honda. He now sits second in the championship, 20 points behind CDR Yamaha's Josh Coppins. For more, [don't forget to take a look at our Wonthaggi rundown| http://www.transmoto.com.au/publish/news/10126742/MXN---Wonthaggi-Rundown].---Marmont's teammate, Billy Mackenzie, is out with a wrist injury for three months. It turns out Mackenzie's injury isn't a normal break. He tore the ligament off the bone and needed surgery to repair the damage, which is why the Scotsman will spend so long recovering.---Australia's Dean Ferris took his career best finish in the World Motocross Championship at Fermo, Italy, over the weekend where he finished in 10th. The ICEONERACING rider missed the opening round of the series after he broke his elbow two months ago after crashing into a hay bale racing in the Spanish Championship.---For those wondering why Pro Opens and Pro Lites in the MX Nationals have been fazed out this year for the European MX1 and MX2 class names, event promote, William Event Management's Kevin Williams said: "We are using this year as a transition year. MX1/MX2 is the FIM terms and with such an international line-up we are trying to become more aligned with the world standard."---JDR J-Star KTM's PJ Larsen had his knee operated on last month after he crashed during practice at the Toronto Supercross. Larsen says, "I'm doing some light cycling now and a lot of therapy. I'm still awhile away from being back on the bike but I hope to make the last few Outdoor Nationals."---GEICO Honda's Eli Tomac wrapped up the West Coast Lites championship when he scored enough points to clinch the championship after rival Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki's Dean Wilson (four points behind Tomac) had a huge crash that forced him from the race. Tomac narrowly missing out on the title last year, beaten by Broc Tickle, after going down to the wire in Las Vegas.---

Eli looks exactly like John Tomac back in his glory days.

Speaking of Tomac, we found a shot of his old man, John Tomac (the legendary mountain bike racer), when he was younger. Like father like son!---With mounting pressure to start the US Supercross season in late January, there's also a push to pair the supercross and motocross back to 12 rounds. And with three national titles wrapped up before the final round has begun and the mounting number of riders out due to injury, they might be right. When asked about the situation, US correspondent Jason Weigandt said, "I've heard talk about reducing the number of rounds since I was a kid. It would certainly save a lot of money for teams, and give riders a break, but the supercross promoters would take in less money. Maybe the mounting injuries could serve as leverage, but it's still five less profitable events. Think about how hard it'll be to change that."

Price took his fifth Outright victory of the season after winning Round 6.

Round 5/6 of the AORC was held at Coonabarabran over the weekend and Motorex KTM Off-Road's Toby Price once again took the Outright victory after the two-round sprints. While favouring some, the very tight 90's-style track didn't seem to suit Price's teammate, Chris Hollis, and Ballard's Yamaha Off-Road's Stefan Merriman, who have a more calculated approach to racing, and their results suffered. Hollis finished 8th and 11th Outright over the two days, while Merriman took 9th and 8th. These poor results may, at least partially, be due to restrictions placed on walking the track - word is Hollis used this time to methodically plan his route for race day.---Husqvarna's Glenn Kearney almost piped Phillips for third Outright during Round 5 of the AORC but had bike trouble that saw him lose 25 seconds on the Yamaha rider.---The Australasian Safari announced this week that an amateur motorbike competitor in this year's competition will win a free entry into the 2013 Dakar. The only condition is the rider must never have entered the Dakar before, or finished inside the top 10 in an FIM Rally. That rules Jake Smith, Rod Faggotter, Matt Fish and Dave Schwarz out of the running leaving Motorex KTM Off-Road's Ben Grabham and Todd Smith as the likely candidates.---The official 2013 KTM Launch will once again take place in Italy from May 16 to 18 and Transmoto's Deputy Editor, Ollie Sharp, is along for the ride. Word is KTM have overhauled their entire SX-F range while the EXCs get mild updates. However, there have been no official announcements from KTM Australia who'll hold their tongue until after the Italian launch.---Leading AORC Women's rider, Jess Gardiner, has made a last minute call to fly to Spain and Portugal to compete in the Enduro World Championship. She'll join rival, Jemma Wilson, in the European battle.---Speaking of Wilson, she's been nominated as one of the [Pedestrian Bacholorettes of the Year| http://www.pedestrian.tv/bachelorette/profiles/1?cat=pedestrian], which target impressive young Australian women. She's nominated alongside fashion model Lara Bingle, artist Julia Stone and musician Ruby Rose.---Monster Energy Yamaha's Steven Frossard pulled out of the weekend's World MX Championship round after experiencing pain in his recently operated right leg. Frossard had keyhole surgery to his right anterior cruciate ligament only five days before the race---The Yamaha-supported Watagan Trail Bike Rally is set for June 23/24 on the Central Coast of NSW. Only 90-minutes from Sydney, trails will be open on Saturday and Sunday with free camping and breakfast and lunch on the Sunday. Plus, once lucky entrant will walk away with a brand new 2012 Yamaha WR450F. For more information and booking details head to http://www.trailbikerallys.com.au.Ever wanted to meet Double Backflip King, Cam Sinclair, multiple X Games medalist, Blake "Bilko" Williams or X Games medalist, Josh Sheehan? They'll be at Garage Entertainment on May 19 promoting the Nitro Circus Australian tour. Plus, you'll have the chance to score a double VIP pass to the Nitro Circus Sydney Show. Get down to The Entertainment Quarter in Moore Park and say hello. Get a load of this kitted out Yamaha Super Tenere Worldcrosser built by Yamaha Italy. Its mods include carbon component sidepanel, fork protectors and frame guard. It's also fitted with skid plate, drive shaft shield and rear brake protector and comes with a black speedblock and gold accents or a red speedblock and red accents. Yamaha Australia has confirmed they're looking at obtaining the kits.---Honda has announced a range of accessories available for their Crosstourer VFR1200X including panniers, heated grips, front LED fog lamp kit, cowl ornament kit, quartet harness, Averto alarm kit, outdoor cover, side deflector kit and 12V socket kit. They've also packaged up an adventure kit that includes panniers and top box, mainstand, foglights, cowl ornament, quartet harness and windscreen.---Here's a trick of the trade that Husqvarn'a Joerg Hoffmann sent us: How to open your beer without a bottle opener.

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